Do nursing programs require shaving facial hair?

MotoMonkey, BSN, RN · May 29, 2020

I have never heard of a program requiring students to be clean shaved, how ever, I am pretty sure most programs will have something in their dress code about facial hair needing to be clean and well kept.

whalestales, ASN, RN · May 29, 2020

I know a program my friend is going into is requiring all facial hair to fit inside an N95. We are unsure if this is COVID related

Enarra, BSN, RN · May 29, 2020

Ah Yes with covid19 going around N95 mask is a must and can’t have beard because the Mask can’t form a tight seal with facial hair in the way. Double Check with your nursing program And good luck

PathosMod · May 30, 2020

Right, I was thinking the necessity of N95 masks might increase the likelihood of the razor. I keep it pretty well maintained, but don't know if that's good enough for a fit test. Time will tell.

bitter_betsy, BSN · May 30, 2020

Prepare to become one with the razor.

PathosMod · May 30, 2020

1 hour ago, bitter_betsy said:
Prepare to become one with the razor.

The sacrifice begins ?

I have a pre-registration meeting in two weeks. I'll update for any interested.

TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN · Jun 1, 2020

On 5/29/2020 at 8:28 PM, PathosMod said:
Right, I was thinking the necessity of N95 masks might increase the likelihood of the razor. I keep it pretty well maintained, but don't know if that's good enough for a fit test. Time will tell.

You can give yourself a clean shave that morning and still fail a fit test. I know everywhere I've worked tend to just auto-fail men and have us use the PAPR since any stubble at all kills the seal from the mask and makes it completely useless. Then on top of that, my units would purposely never assign me to those rooms because it's that much easier to just have one of the girls put on a respirator and be done and ready to go in.

Really lost on why a school would even give a student a patient on airborne isolation. That is a huge liability risk and a waste of equipement.

PathosMod · Jun 2, 2020

1 hour ago, TheDudeWithTheBigDog said:
You can give yourself a clean shave that morning and still fail a fit test. I know everywhere I've worked tend to just auto-fail men and have us use the PAPR since any stubble at all kills the seal from the mask and makes it completely useless. Then on top of that, my units would purposely never assign me to those rooms because it's that much easier to just have one of the girls put on a respirator and be done and ready to go in.
Really lost on why a school would even give a student a patient on airborne isolation. That is a huge liability risk and a waste of equipement.

Yeah, I don't actually know what the extent of the responsibilities they place on the students is. Just thinking ahead at this point.

Guest1144461 · Jun 3, 2020

Lmao they cant force you to shave, that would be considered discrimination when there are PAPR options. If for some reason PAPR were not available that would be a different conversation. I literally would have to shave twice a day to be compliant so I don't even bother with the N-95 and have never gotten any flak for it. I also worked at a hospital with a TON of COVID patients.

PathosMod · Jun 3, 2020

13 hours ago, Numenor said:
Lmao they cant force you to shave, that would be considered discrimination when there are PAPR options. If for some reason PAPR were not available that would be a different conversation. I literally would have to shave twice a day to be compliant so I don't even bother with the N-95 and have never gotten any flak for it. I also worked at a hospital with a TON of COVID patients.

Yeah, confirmed I'll be using a PAPR for the program.